In Their Own Words, Part II

As I’ve mentioned three times before, the second edition of my book, Redemption: the Myth of Pet Overpopulation & the No Kill Revolution in America, has just been released. In doing research for the first and then the second edition of the book, I amassed a large body of historical archives about the movement. And as I indicated in those posts, once the second edition was completed, I began packing away the material used to write the book. But as so often happens when you go through old items, you begin re-reading them. I also wrote that periodically, I’d release some of the material for posterity.

In the first post, I released some letters from HSUS telling a prosecutor that feral cat caretakers should essentially be arrested for animal abandonment, and calling TNR “inhumane” and “abhorrent.” I also released a postcard written by Ingrid Newkirk stating that PETA doesn’t believe in “right to life” for animals.

In the second post, I released:

a letter from PETA applauding a Mayor’s decision to round up and kill feral cats and suggesting they kill the kittens also,

In 2002, five employees of the Animal Welfare League of Arlington are asked to resign on threat of being fired for saving lives. Admittedly, the employees falsified records. However, the director, a darling of HSUS, refused to put in place a foster care programs, decades after San Francisco proved that saving underaged kittens and puppies, and many other animals, requires it. In fact, San Francisco proved that ending the killing of savable animals may just be impossible without it. Nonetheless, the director chose instead to kill them. Tired of killing, employees took it upon themselves to foster and bottle feed the little gems and then returned them for adoption. When the regressive, kill-oriented director found out, they were asked to resign.

At a time when Michael Vick colleague Wayne Pacelle was at the Fund For Animals, it should be no surprise that the Fund had regressive policies about animals in shelters. The Fund for Animals says a dog being killed by a shelter worker is “one of the lucky ones” by painting a false choice between death at the pound or suffering on the street. If I was that little dog, I would rather have a loving, new home. Hell, I’d even take my chances on the street.

Kim Sturla whose antics in publicly killing animals in the first-of-its-kind public execution opened Chapter 1 of Redemption, lauds an ordinance that makes it unlawful for anyone to feed feral or abandoned cats unless they are going to sterilize them or trap them “for proper disposal,” as if they are nothing more than yesterday’s trash.

Sue Sternberg, the “expert” HSUS and others turn to on dog testing, says shelters should not adopt out dogs someone says look like a “Pit Bull” to families with children even if they are friendly (she claims most are aggressive to kids, cats, and/or dogs), because they have a strong “swishing tail.” And that tail, she says, can cause bruising or even knock out teeth when the dog is saying “hello”! You can’t make this stuff up!

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The views expressed in this blog are solely the opinions of the writer and no one else, nor any agency or organization. The author is an attorney and notes that the communications are protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Any attempt to infringe on that right, whether actual or threatened, will be considered a strategic lawsuit against public participation.